Monster
by Santania'sGirl
Summary: When the turtles rescue a mysterious girl from being attacked by the Foot, Leonardo becomes obsessed with finding out who she is. The turtles also encounter a deadly new enemy.
1. A New Face

Chapter 1

"Leo, they aren't going to show!"

The turtles had been atop a roof, staking out an abandoned warehouse for over three hours. Raph's patience was beginning to run thin. He stared at his older brother as the turtle gazed down blankly at the warehouse below them, eyes unblinking. Raph let out a groan and grabbed his brother's shoulder, forcing him to turn around and meet his gaze.

"Leo, are you even listening?"

"Patience, Raph!" Leo snapped, pushing his red-banded sibling away and turning back to the warehouse. "They'll show."

"Why? Because April said so? Face it, Leo, she was wrong."

"She hasn't been wrong before," Leo commented.

"Well, maybe she was wrong this time," Mikey inquired, sitting up. He had been lying on his stomach atop an air duct, reading a comic he'd brought along to preoccupy him. By now, he had read it at least five times and had the first part of it memorized.

"Raph and Mikey could be right," Donnie agreed, hopping down from the vent he had been perched on. "Maybe it's time we head home."

"No, they'll show," Leo insisted, holding up his hand to show he wanted them to wait. "I know they will. They have to." His eyes then narrowed behind his mask.

"Leo, we know that the Kraang are more dangerous than ever, but don't you think-"

Raph was interrupted midsentence by the sound of trashcans clanking against the asphalt ground. Each turtles' head shot into the air and veered in the direction it had come – the other side of the building. Leo was the first to race to the sound, hoping to find the Kraang. As they approached, they could hear the sound of flesh-on-flesh, followed by grunts.

Reaching the edge of the building, they peered down only to find what appeared to be a girl, possibly no younger than April's age, facing the Foot. From what they observed, the girl was not holding up too well against her attackers. They observed as a Foot ninja punched the girl in her gut, making her grunt, and then finished her off with a kick, sending her flying into a green trash bin that was in the back of the alleyway.

"We gotta save her!" Donnie yelled, grabbing his staff and getting ready to leap into combat.

"What's with you and saving every girl you come in contact with?" Raph asked, his arms folded across his chest. "For all we know, she could have attacked them." Donnie glared Raph down in anger.

"Donnie's right," Leo said, making Donnie and Raph look at him. "We can't just let them beat up on her."

"You're the boss," Raph sighed, withdrawing his Sai from their holsters.

Mikey already had his nunchucks withdrawn. He was twirling them around, smiling. "Booyakasha!" he shouted as he and his brothers leaped down from the spot they had been standing in, jumping in front of the girl to shield her from the encroaching Foot.

The black ninjas glanced at the turtles in confusion. This befuddlement didn't last for long. They began to take offensive positions, embracing for attacks. Leo held up one of his katanas, pointing it at the awaiting ninjas. "You looking for a fight? You got one."

"I can't wait to -" Raph stopped midsentence as a black silhouette gracefully leapt over his head and fell onto the closest ninja, making him topple onto his back. The figure looked back, allowing the stunned turtles to get a good look at it.

It was a dog, or from what they could tell. Its body was black but it had what seemed to be purple fur hanging down into its eyes, keeping the left one hidden from their view. Its ears were long, coming down to its shoulders at least, and from what they could see, a collar was glimmering around its neck, though they weren't sure what color exactly. The dog then snorted and a feminine voice called to them.

"You going to help or not?"

This snapped Leo out of his trance as he shook his head slightly, coming back to his sense. He lurched forward towards one of the remaining five ninjas, slashing at it with one of his unsheathed katanas. His brothers soon followed after him, each one taking one of the five ninjas, the dog joining them. Donnie clubbed one of the ninjas on the head, while Leo slashed away at another.

Mikey and Raph began teaming against two of the other ninjas, the orange-banded turtle swinging his nunchucks at them while Raph threw punches. The dog that had appeared joined in, reaching up and biting the ninja they had been combatting, making him break his silence and scream in pain. He then sped off and away from the fight, Leo and Donnie sending another one.

Three remained out of the six that had originally attacked. Mikey and Donnie began fighting against one of them while Leo, Raph, and the dog combatted the other two. It didn't take them long to fight off the remaining ones. They fled the alley scene, jumping up atop one of the fire escapes and vanishing over a building.

Mikey ran after them, stopping just under the fire escape. He put one of his hands to his mouth and shouted, "And don't show your ugly face around here again!" His free hand, which still gripped one of his nunchucks, was pointing down towards the ground.

"Uh, Mikey," began Donnie, walking to his side as he pushed his staff back into its holster. "You can't really call them ugly. You don't even know what they look like."

"Oh yeah," Mikey said, rubbing the back of his head.

"But I bet they look ugly after what we did to them!" Raph commented, cracking his knuckles.

"Guys!" Leo shouted. "She's gone."

"Gone? How can she be-" Donnie stopped talking when he saw Raph and Mikey were looking straight ahead. His gaze drifted to see the dog's silhouette outlined in the light coming from a streetlamp at the edge of the alleyway's opening. It was then that it began to shift.

The turtles watched in both awe and horror as the silhouette began to morph right before their very eyes. The dog was changing. Its muzzle began to shrink back into its face and its ears began to slightly grow longer. It began to stand on its hind legs, forelegs morphing into arms and its paws shifting into hands. Within only seconds, the figure of a young girl was standing in front of them, features hidden from the shadow the streetlight cast.

"Werewolf!" Mikey gasped before he ran to hide behind Raph; however the other turtles didn't seem to hear his cry of terror.

The girl winced slightly almost as if offended by his words. She turned on her heel and began away from the turtles, but not before giving them one last glimpse. With a monotone feminine voice, she stated, "Next time you're going to play hero, show up earlier."

She then raced out onto the sidewalk and disappeared behind the right corner, leaving the turtles alone in the dark alley.

Raph crossed his arms over his chest, shifting the loose ends of his bandana over to his right shoulder, a scowl on his face. "What, she doesn't have the decency to say thank you?"

"Werewolves don't say thank you, Raph," Mikey quivered. "We-we're just lucky we escaped."

"Mikey, she wasn't a werewolf. Werewolves don't magically morph into a dog and control their metamorphosis," Donnie corrected, giving his younger brother a look of frustration. "Plus, they don't exist."

"I'm not sure what she was," Leo spoke, blinking for the first time in a few minutes. He had been totally fixated on her. It was as if he couldn't turn away.

"Who cares?" Raph asked, walking forward. "All that matters is we did our good deed, saved her from peril, and kicked a few Foot around. I'd call it a job well done."

"Unless she comes back to try and eat us…" Mikey whimpered, glancing around himself nervously. "She's probably in the shadows right now, waiting… wondering what turtle tastes like!"

"Knock it off," Leo snapped, giving Mikey a look of frustration. "We can't judge her based on her way of saying thanks."

"Wait, wait, wait, you actually think she _thanked _us?" Raph questioned, looking his older brother in his blue eyes. "She said we were slow."

"Which is a hurtful stereotype," Donnie commented.

"She practically insulted us then left. Leo, she didn't say thanks. She couldn't swallow her pride."

"Let's not talk about this here. We should head back home."

"What about the Kraang you were so headstrong to stop?" Raph asked, a hint of cockiness in his voice, as he raised his brow slightly and a grin spread across his face. Leo only glared at him, his face showing scorn and brooding.

"C'mon. Let's head home."

• • •

"Did you find the Kraang?" April had been waiting on the turtles to return to their lair, Splinter sitting at her side the entire time. Ever since her father was abducted, she would wait for the turtles to return from a stakeout that involved the Kraang in the turtles' lair. Each encounter with these robotic aliens was just another step closer to finding her father.

"No, but we did find a werewolf!" Mikey shouted, flopping down onto the couch at the opposite end.

"For the hundredth time, Mikey, werewolves don't exist!" Donnie shouted, turning his entire body in his brother's direction, frustration and anger coursing through his veins.

"A werewolf?" April asked as she gave Donnie a confused look.

Donnie sighed. "We were staked out when we found this girl being beat up by the Foot."

"Who turned out to be a werewolf," Mikey interrupted, pushing Donnie aside and taking over the story. "So there we were facing six Foot ninjas just after the girl had been knocked to the ground. I was all like, 'Booyakasha, ninjas!' and then this dog flew over Raph's head and landed on one of the ninjas and was all, 'Blah blah blah fight.' And Leo was all 'Let's get 'em!' and we were all, 'Yeah!' and we started punching and kicking them and the dog bit one and-"he stopped midsentence after he realized what had just been said.

"Oh no!" he shouted, throwing his hands onto his head. "She turned one of the ninjas into a werewolf!"

Raph smacked Mikey on the head, making him turn to face his brother, pouting in anger as he rubbed the back of his head. "Basically, we defeated the ninjas and after it was over, the dog turned out to be the girl," Raph summed up.

"So she was like… a shape-shifter?" April asked.

"Pretty much. And then she thanked us and left," Leo stated, walking up to Raph's side.

"No, she called us slow and to next time show up faster and then left," Raph corrected, giving his brother a frown.

"No, I think she was thanking us. She was just… embarrassed… that we saved her."

"I'm pretty sure she didn't care that we saved her," Raph argued.

"She obviously did."

"Really? Why'd she leave in such a hurry without even giving us thanks? Because she didn't care. Face it, Leo."

Leo frowned, his cobalt eyes staring at the ground in thought. He then looked up to see Splinter standing over him. "Sensei, I think that girl can help us."

"You mean like you thought Karai was good, right?" Raph said from behind him. Leo shot him an angry glare before returning to his gaze to his teacher.

"I think that she's just… afraid. If I could just talk to her-"

"Leonardo, if what Raphael says is true, I don't think she will want to do any talking."

"But Sensei, we desperately _need_ allies!" Leo encouraged. "And I honestly believe that she can be an ally. If she could aid us against the Shredder, we'd be able to stop him."

"She's not much a fighter, dude," Mikey commented, walking over to Leo. "I mean, she would of got her butt kicked without us being there."

"But when she's a dog, she seemed to have some sort of combat skills!"

"Yeah, because we were there to help her out," Raph said. "Just let her be, Leo. Forget about her. She's probably no good anyway."

Leo glanced down at his feet, feeling defeated. His gut was telling him that this girl could be a potential ally, but his brothers and sensei wouldn't listen. Finally, he nodded.

"Alright, we'll just let it go."


	2. The Talk

Chapter 2

"You want me to do what?"

Leo smiled awkwardly as he stood outside April's room on the fire escape. He had taken her home, practically fighting Donnie off just to get the chance to talk to her. He then began fumbling with his fingers as he tried to explain what he wanted April to do one more time.

"Tomorrow afternoon, after you get home from school, I'd like you to buy me some food."

"By _me,_ you mean that girl?" April asked, raising her eyebrow as she folded her arms. "As in you're going to go try and find her and talk to her?"

"If I said yes, would you be angry?"

April let out a cry of frustration. "What is it with you and chasing after potentially dangerous girls!?"

"She's not dangerous!" Leo argued. "She's just… scared."

"No, she isn't dangerous at all. She just morphs into a dog and attacks ninjas. Perfectly safe and secure."

"April… you know how you get a feeling about things sometimes?" April nodded, and so the turtle continued. "Well, sometimes I do, too, and I have a feeling that she can be a beneficial ally to us against the Shredder. I think she was attacked by the Foot because she poses a threat to him in some way, and I want to know why that is."

April continued to stare at him skeptically. Finally, she sighed in defeat, letting her arms fall to the sides of her body as her gaze drifted to the side. "Fine… Tomorrow around six, meet me at Mr. Murikami's. I'll have your food ready."

"Thank you, April!" Leo exclaimed excitedly. "You won't regret this. I promise."

"I better not. And if you get bitten by that human-dog-whatever, don't say I didn't warn you!"

Her words didn't reach Leo. He was already out of earshot and on his way back to his lair. She sighed and propped herself against the window frame. "Idiot."

• • •

Leo leapt over a large gap as he looked at the fading sun that was beginning to shrink over the buildings that lay on the horizon. In his left hand he held a white paper bag that April had handed to him. In it was the food he had requested, though what kind of food, he had no clue.

He leapt over another gap in the building structures as his feet carried him over crowds of people below, all scurrying to wherever they needed to go. He was cautious not to make too much noise when moving so not to attract unwanted attention. The last thing he needed was for someone to see a mutant turtle carrying an unmarked bag and leaping across gaps.

Each alleyway he came in contact with, he would stop and scan, looking for that black dog. She had to be in one of these. Please be in one of these. It was the only true form he could confirm as her, for her human form had been hidden behind shadow.

After about the tenth alleyway he came in contact with, Leo stopped to rest, leaning against an air vent as he looked back up at the sky to see it shifting from grey to an orange and red color. Neither he nor his brothers ever got to experience a sunset. Most of their time above ground was during the night. There had only been a select few times they had gone above during the day, and each time, the sky had been a dull, placid grey, just like the city's streets and buildings.

This afternoon, the sky was painted. Leo took it in for a moment, admiring the beauty of it when he heard the sound of a trashcan toppling over. He walked over to the edge of the building he was on and gazed down into the dim alley and smiled. It was her.

The dog had knocked over a trashcan and was now sifting through it to find a morsel of food. Leo looked down at the white bag and smiled. "Perfect timing," he said to himself. He then leapt down onto the ground.

The soft thud his feet made when they collided with the asphalt alerted the dog. She looked up and immediately began growling at the sight of the turtle, peeling her lips back to reveal a set of large, white fangs and pink gums. Her fur began standing on end as she lowered her body to the ground, tail sticking straight in the air.

"Back off, turtle…" she sneered, circling around him.

Leo followed her movements, holding up his hands. "Whoa, whoa… I don't want any trouble. I just want to talk. See?" he shook the bag he grasped in his left hand. "I even brought food."

The dog didn't relax. "Really? You bring a gift in hopes of winning me over? You think I can be bought!?" she snarled in anger.

"No! It's not like that!" Leo stated hastily. "I just wanted to talk about those guys you were cornered by last night…"

"I could have handled them," she sneered fiercely. "I could have crushed them without any help from you and your turtle friends. Where are they?" Without moving her head, her bright lime green eye veered around, peering at the rooftops above. "Come out from hiding!"

"I didn't bring them with me, honest. I came alone. Just trust me. I don't want any trouble. I even came unarmed."

Leo pointed with his right hand to his back. Where his katanas would have been sheathed was empty holsters. This made the dog relax a little. She let her lips fall over her teeth as she stepped forward a few paces. She then sniffed the air before finally accepting that he was sincere. Licking her lips, she settled down on her haunches.

"What's in the bag? It smells like cow meat that been saturated in chemicals, probably more than a month or so old."

"It's food. I'm not sure what it is, exactly." Leo opened the bag to see that she had predicted exactly what it was right on the spot. It was ground beef, raw and looking slightly browner that what most ground beef looked like. "Oh, so it is ground beef! April did a great job at preparing a meal."

"April?" the dog asked.

"How about we talk on the roof? I… can't really be seen by humans."

"Fair enough."

Leo leapt up onto the fire escape attached to the opposite building that he had jumped down from. He climbed up and waited for the dog to follow. However, instead of the black, floppy-eared dog, a girl emerged.

Her hair came over her shoulders slightly and was jet black in color, just like her dog form's fur. All of her hair was this color except for her bangs, which were painted a deep yet bright neon purple. They were also parted to fall over her left eye. Her right eye was the same color as her dog form's – bright lime green, having this yellow tint to it. Her skin was a pale, ghastly white, almost porcelain like.

She stood before Leo, who was slightly stunned by the girl's appearance. He hadn't quite expected the somewhat gothic look she held. In a way, she resembled Karai. Her attire was completely different from kunowichi's, though. She wore a white tank top and navy blue denim skirt, which came down to her knees. Black leggings were underneath it and on her feet were black sneakers. She had fishnets on her arms, which came slightly over her elbows. Around her neck was the collar she wore when she was a dog. It was black with the exception of the white metal pieces that surrounded it, creating a simple design.

"What?" she asked, cocking her head to one side and raising her right brow.

Leo shook his head lightly. "N-nothing. I just… wasn't expecting to see you as a human."

"Yeah, well, neither was I," she whispered under her breath.

"Huh?"

"Nothing. Hand me the bag. I'm starving." She extended her hand.

Leo handed over the white paper sack, and she snatched it from him. She then ripped it open with her teeth, spilling the ground beef onto the rooftop into a big, slumped heap. Then, while still a human, she descended onto it like a vulture would descend onto a dead carcass. The blue-banded turtle could only stare in disbelief.

He watched her eat with only her mouth, never once using her hands to consume the meal laid before her. When he tried approaching her, she would growl in an animal-like way, making him back away from her and allow her to finish her meal. She was more animal-like than anything he'd ever seen.

Halfway through her meal, she finally spoke in a muffled voice. "I don't see how humans can eat a meal such as this every day of their wretched lives. It tastes like it's been sitting on the ground and baked in the sun for at least half a year." She slurped up some more of it. "Not even a vulture would touch this."

"Well, you don't have to eat it, I mean…" Leo stopped when he saw her eye peering at him from behind the veil her hair had created. He saw the raw beef covering her pale face and grimaced in disgust.

"I haven't had a decent meal in over five days. Of course I'm going to eat this rancid, processed meat." She then descended back onto the beef.

"You know… for a dog, you sure are picky."

"Dog?!" she demanded, glancing up at him with this fire in her eyes. Leo was taken aback by her sudden hostility at that one simple word. He watched at it faded away slowly. "Sorry… that word is used as an insult from where I'm from. I'm neither a dog, nor a human. I'm a wolf."

"A wolf?" Leo asked skeptically.

"Yes. A wolf."

"Most wolves don't have long ears or wear a collar."

"Most turtles don't run around or walk on two legs."

"Good point."

The girl grinned in triumph and began finishing up what scraps of meat were left on the roof. Once the beef was gone, she licked the spot it had been in for a few moments before finally satisfying herself. With the back of her hand, she wiped her face clean of the small morsels of flesh left on it and then licked the back of it clean. The girl then settled down on the ground, sitting with her arms between her legs and knees pulled up to her body, much like a dog would.

Leo sat down in front of her atop his legs as if getting ready to spar with one of his brothers or when Splinter addressed them during training. Upon seeing him do this, she immediately switched the position she was in to match his.

"What's your name?" Leo questioned.

"I was named December," she answered. "Given the name after the month I was born in."

"I'm Leonardo," Leo stated. "Given the name after the great painter, Leonardo Da Vinci."

"Leonardo," December repeated. "How strange."

"Well, it is pretty strange I guess," he laughed lightly.

"Tell me, Leonardo, why did you come to find me?" December asked as her eyes combed over his body.

"Well, you see, it was about those guys who were battling you. The ones we… helped you to defeat." He chose his words wisely in hopes of not offending her again.

"What of them?"

"Well, why were they fighting you exactly?"

December sighed, now climbing to her feet. "I know what this is about," she stated in a melancholy tone of voice.

Leo stood up and stared at her in confusion. "Y-you do?"

"If you are looking to form an alliance, I must decline your proposal. In fact, it would be best if you forgot you ever saw me."

"Forgot I ever saw you? Why? What for?"

"Look, Leonardo, I appreciate your generosity and your help in fending off those combatants from last night, but I am not an ally."

"So… you're a villain?" he asked, now more confused than before.

"Just know this… I am what you would call 'bad news.' You must forget you ever saw my face." Her eyes then wandered to the sky. The sun had already settled behind the horizon and the moon, which was hidden behind its monthly veil, had already begun to rise. Upon seeing this, Leo saw December's eyes fill with a sort of fear. "You must go."

"Go?"

"Go home!" she shouted suddenly. "Get out of here! And forget you ever met me in this place!"

"But-!"

Without any warning, December transformed into her dog self and leapt over the top of the building. Leo began to race after, looking over the edge to see her peering back up at him. She then snorted and dashed off into the open, racing away from him and not once glancing back.


	3. Encounter

Chapter 3

Leo trudged back into his home with a heavy heart. All the hope he had built up that this girl would help them had flooded his body and left him utterly exhausted. Just like Karai, she was a disappointment. An ally they wouldn't receive. He sighed as he entered the living room of his home, seeing Raph petting on Spike and Mikey watching some movie on the television.

"At least I didn't get attached to her," he told himself, remembering how hurt he had been when Karai had betrayed him. He trudged passed Raph and flopped down on the couch, falling to his side and curling up into a ball.

"Well, look what the cat dragged in, Spike!" Raph exclaimed as he stared at his pet turtle, which was perched on his shoulder. "So, how'd it go with your new girlfriend, Leo?"

"Save it, Raph," Leo growled. He didn't face his brother, but he knew Raph was smirking in victory.

"I guess it went bad. Looks like Spike and I were right, as always."

"How did you even know I had gone to see her?" Leo asked. He lifted himself up to face his brother who was now feeding Spike a leaf.

"April texted us. She wanted to make sure we knew in case you turned into dog food. Of course, we would have known anyway. I mean, you just can't leave the girls who are bad news alone, can you?"

"Knock it off," Leo warned. "And for your information, she isn't a dog. She's a wolf."

"A _wolf_!?" Raph shouted in laughter. "Are you serious!? Is that what she told you!? Oh man, you'll believe anything they tell you, won't you?!" He began to laugh; Leo only rolled onto his other side so his eyes would be burning into the back of the couch. He was hiding his shame.

"What's that Spike? You can't believe he's this gullible when it comes to trusting girls? Oh, I know. I guess when he says 'Turtles first,' he means 'turtles first, but only after any girl that has a bad aura surrounding her.'"

"Guys, trying to watch this movie here," Mikey stated without turning to look at his brothers.

"Oh ha ha!" Leo shouted, sitting up and facing his younger brother with brewing hatred. "It's all fun and games, isn't it? Well, for your information, I thought she could be a valuable resource to us and help us take down the Shredder, but apparently, you think you're too good for help."

"Valuable ally? Leo, did you not see the way she was completely creamed by those guys? Even if she wanted to help us out, she would have just got in our way!" Raph argued.

"It's because she's not used to being a human! She prefers being a dog!"

Mikey sighed as loud as he could and moved closer to the television. He then proceeded to turn the volume to its maximum just so he could grab his brothers' attention and give them a hint that they were being too loud. Raph and Leo weren't fazed.

"Oh, and you just automatically trusted her because she said so, just like Karai said she wouldn't come after us, right?"

"Would you stop bringing Karai into this? December is nothing like Karai!"

"December? That's what she called herself in front of you? What a lame name! She can't even come up with good aliases!"

"Oh, so you're going to judge her now based on her name?"

"Trying to watch this movie, guys," Mikey voiced again, this time louder than the last, his ear completely against the speaker of the television.

"No, I'm judging her based on the way she presented herself. Leo, she's bad news!"

"No, you're judging her as bad because she didn't bow down and praise you for saving her life, Raph, let's just be honest."

Raph was now growling. "Praise me?! Leo, if I wanted praise, I wouldn't save the city as a ninja. I'd just dress as a human, go out into the open, and do what we do, as loudly and obvious as possible!"

"'Did you hear something?'" Mikey shouted, making Raph and Leo stare at him in befuddlement. "'No, Tony! I didn't! Did you?' 'I thought I did. C'mon, let's just go investigate this abandoned building and hope that our brothers don't yell at the top of their lungs so Michelangelo can watch this movie in peace!" He was staring them down with his face plastered in anger. He breathed heavily from where he had yelled nonstop without taking a breath of air. Leo and Raph only stared at him in both confusion and astonishment. Satisfied that he had gotten his brothers' full attention and his point through, he turned back to the movie and watched it in silence.

Leo returned his gaze to Raph. "Look, you don't have to worry about it. She doesn't want to help us out; it's over. Alright?"

"Yeah, sure. Whatever you say, Leo."

"Alright, good. We should gear up and get ready to head out for patrol."

Mikey let out a frustrated sigh. "Dude, c'mon! I'm trying to watch this movie!"

"They all die in the end," Raph said as he arose from his seat. "Turns out the killer was actually the girl they were trying to protect."

"Are you _serious_?!" Mikey shouted, jumping up from where he had been sitting. "That's the biggest load of BS I've ever heard in my entire life! Whoever wrote this movie should never write another movie again!"

"I gotta agree with you on that one, Mikey," Raph commented as both of them walked towards Donnie's lab. Leo headed towards his room where he had stored his katanas before leaving.

"Donnie!" Raph yelled. Donnie was piecing together another invention of his using a screwdriver. He was so lost in thought that he didn't hear his call.

Raph only smiled, stretching his arms and cracking his knuckles in the process. He then walked over to Donnie and smacked his older brother on the head. Donnie, in surprise, grabbed his staff that was sitting on his desk neatly and leapt to his feet, looking around for the culprit who had struck him.

When the purple-banded turtle saw both Mikey and Raph laughing, his face fell back into chagrin. He put his staff into its position on his back and sighed. "Time to head out?"

"Yup. Leo's back from his visit with his girlfriend, which was unsuccessful, just like I predicted."

"When's he gonna learn that he picks the worst type of girls? Now, if he was like me and chose the more sophisticated girls, he'd -"

"Just c'mon, Romeo," Raph growled, motioning with his hand for Donnie to follow him. Donnie sighed sadly and exited his lab with his brother.

Leo was waiting at the entrance for them, one of his hands on his left hip. Once they arrived, he motioned with his head for them to move out, and they raced out of their lair, into the dark, damp sewers, and finally exiting the nearest manhole. From there, they hopped up atop the nearest building and began their nightly patrol.

"I can't believe you actually thought she'd join us, Leo," Donnie stated as he and his brothers ran across a building top.

"Look, it was a stupid mistake. You guys don't have to worry about it happening again," Leo voiced, glancing behind him briefly to see his three younger siblings following him closely.

"Dude, you sure now how to pick 'em," Mikey laughed, leaping atop an air duct and cutting a back flip off of it.

"Yeah, well," Leo fumbled inside his head for a witty comeback to say to the orange-banded turtle. He finally found one, but didn't voice his reply.

A scream pierced the night air, making the four turtles stop in their tracks. They looked around, confused as to where the scream actually came. Each one gazed around with curious and alarmed eyes. They scanned through the darkness. Despite being in a very well-lit area, they couldn't exactly see much around them, and they certainly could not pinpoint sounds.

Another scream filled the silence, and Donnie was able to narrow down its location. "It sounded like it was coming from one of those buildings over there!" He pointed towards a few apartment complexes that were looming in the distance.

"Let's go have a look!" Leo ordered, and he and his siblings ran towards them.

Once they were on the fire escape that clung to the building's depressing walls, they began scanning the windows, searching for any clues that would lead them to the possible source of the scream. Raph noticed one of the windows was open. He climbed up and saw that it was broken open. Glass shards were scattered around his feet, which somewhat amazed him since he was at least three four floors away from it.

"Guys, that window!" he whispered down to the others as he pointed up it. "It's broken!"

"Nice work, Raph!" Leo complimented with a smile. He then averted his gaze to Donnie and Mikey. "Alright, Mikey, you and Raph take the left side of the window. Donnie and I will take the right. No one enters until my signal, got it?"

Donnie and Mikey nodded. Leo looked up at Raph. "Did you hear that?"

"Loud and clear!"

"Alright, let's go!"

The four ninjas began climbing up the fire escape as quietly as possible. They reached the floor the broken window was located and Raph and Mikey snuck over to the left side it where they pressed their bodies against the wall, making themselves as flat as possible. Leo and Donnie did the same. Slowly and silently, each one withdrew their weapons.

Leo's eyes were narrowed as he peered around the corner cautiously. Inside, all he could see was darkness; the only light was that which filtered through the broken glass panes. It didn't look like there was anything moving around in there, and so he moved his gaze over to Raph and Mikey, who were anxiously awaiting their leader's signal. They both nodded their heads. He peeped over his shoulder to see Donnie nod to show he, too, was ready. Leo nodded back and they all piled in.

"Halt, villain!" Leo shouted, pointing with one of his katanas towards the darkest part of the room. He could hear his brothers groaning behind him.

"I thought we went over the whole 'halt, villain!' speech?" Raph asked, placing his hand, which was gripping one of his Sai, on his forehead.

"Yeah, I said that's how heroes talk, and we're heroes."

"Heroes?" a dry, hostile voice called from the shadows, making the turtles return their attention to whatever it was lurking around them.

A pair of deep crimson eyes began glowing through the black abyss, slowly growing larger and larger. From the depths of the shadows emerged a solid black, ghostly figure. On its face was a sinister smile of jagged white teeth. The smile was so wide that it made Leo's face hurt just looking at it.

Upon seeing this villainous figure, the turtles were taken aback by its presence. As it began towards them, the black auras that surrounded its shrouded body swirling around as if fire, the young ninjas would step away in fear. Even fearless Raphael was struck with this overwhelming sense of fright at the sight of this figure. This thing was in the shape and form of what appeared to be a human, but they weren't entirely sure it was just that – human. It was too supernatural to be human.

"Did you just say… _heroes_?" it asked again, mouth never moving from its jagged, crescent shape.

"Um, no?" Mikey voiced with uncertainty.

"Good," it said, taking another step towards them. "Because I absolutely despise heroes with every ounce of evil in my body."

"You must really despise heroes," Raph commented.

"Man, it sucks to be heroes right now," Mikey chuckled. "Sure would hate to be some, right Leo?"

"Mikey, we are heroes," Leo voiced, looking at Mikey with narrowed eyes. "And we're here to stop you." He returned his gaze back to the creature. His hands tightened their grip around his katanas' handles. He was bracing himself.

"Stop me?!" the thing laughed. "You're here… to stop me? Oh, this is almost too humorous to be true!" It broke out into a fit of laughter, throwing its head back and roaring in it. "Oh, I haven't laughed like that in ages. You see, my green enemy, you can't stop me." It then pointed to itself with one of its limbs, presumably a hand. "I do whatever I want."

"Well, it ends here," Leo stated firmly.

"Oh, how adorable. You actually think you can stop me. I'll almost be sad when I crush you." It then chuckled to itself as it stiffened, smile growing ever wider, which the turtles had thought impossible. "Almost."

They gripped their weapons tighter, Mikey beginning to swing the end of one of his nunchucks. Leo's eyes narrowed as he adjusted his footing slightly. He then pointed with his left katana towards the creature that stood before them. "Let's get 'em!"

He leapt forward and slashed at it with one of his katanas, but the creature merely side-stepped his attempted blow and with only one hand, punched Leo in the shoulder, sending him flying into the wall on the other side of the room. His shell hit it with great force, leaving a significant dent in it. He fell to the floor, stunned.

Michelangelo attempted to land a hit on it, swinging his nunchuck at it. The creature only grabbed the end of it with its left hand and threw both his weapon and Mikey towards the opposite side of the room where he, too, collided with the wall just like his older brother had. When Mikey hit, he emitted a small cry of pain.

"Nobody hits Mikey but me!" Raph shouted. He and Donnie surrounded the creature, Raph behind it and Donnie in front of it. They exchanged glances and nodded before launching their attack at it.

Donnie twirled his staff around and swung it at the creature, but it leapt up into the air, soaring over Raph and landing behind him, where he punched the red-banded turtle. He sent Raph and Donnie soaring towards the window. Donnie was sent out of it and into the railing that was on the fire escape. Raph collided with the bottom of the windowsill.

Leo was on his feet now and racing towards the monster at full speed; he swiped at it with his left katana, but it only dodged, smiling at him with its rigid smile. Leo again attempted to strike it with his blade, but it leaped up into the air and landed atop the katana's edge elegantly. From its position, it cocked its head to its right, the monster's grin widening ever more. Much to Leo's surprise, it wasn't heavy at all. In fact, it startled him that it was able to perch itself on the end of his blade and Leo was able to hold it there. He was so caught off guard, that the creature effortlessly swept him with its leg, making him let go of the katana it had been settled on.

Raph had recovered by now and was charging full speed at it, fire burning deep in his green eyes. In a split instant, the monster reached down, grabbed Leo's fallen katana, and blocked the blow Raph had attempted. Both were now locked in a deadly gaze, jade eyes burning into deep red ember orbs. Raph's scowl versus a maniacal grin. Exerting no effort at all, the monster pushed Raph away, sending him flailing back slightly, stunned by the strength it had.

Donnie and Mikey were now moving in on it, both throwing random blows in hopes of striking it, but each one was blocked by this creature's extraordinary agility. It didn't even seem to be exerting any sort of energy and with only one hand, the hand in which held Leo's katana, was blocking every strike they ever attempted to deliver. Raph could only stare in disbelief.

He would use this to his advantage, however. While Donnie and Mikey had it distracted, he would run around from behind and deliver a devastating wound. Raph leapt into the shadows, concealing himself from the monster's view as he watched his brothers tussle with it, growing more and more tired.

_Don't tire out yet,_ he thought, watching as Leo joined into the battle. He waited for his moment in the shadows. It had to be perfect, completely flawless; he couldn't miss.

Leo jumped in, taking Donnie's place in the battle as he slashed and jabbed away, but each blow was blocked, and each time it blocked Leo's attempts, the smile on this thing's face grew ever wider. Mikey attempted to thwart it by doing a random kick, but using its other hand, it swatted him away as if he were nothing, sending him spiraling into the wall once more. Donnie jumped in and tried to swing his staff at the creature, but it caught the bow staff in midair with its free hand. Then, with a small chuckle, its hand enclosed completely, breaking the staff's end into tiny bits, the blade that had been concealed in it shattering into small shards. Donnie stepped away and stared at the damage his weapon and taken.

It was then Raph took his chance. From the shadows he jumped, landing just behind the creature. With his right hand, he attempted to slice the monster's Akeley's heel, rendering it partially crippled, but with lighting speed, it blocked Raph's attempt with the katana, and so Raph took this opportunity to do his second plan. With his other Sai, he jabbed at the creature's thigh, this time actually landing a direct hit. The small blade shoved itself almost effortlessly into the flesh of the creature.

It let out a cry of pain and Raph leapt back, taking his Sai with him. He watched as it glanced down at the wound, falling to one knee.

"Turtles, fall back!" Leo shouted, running towards the window; Raph didn't argue for once. In fact, he, along with Donnie and Mikey, were glad to be getting away from that thing, whatever it may be. They dashed out the window and practically tumbled down the fire escape, jumping onto the nearest building and booking it towards the closest manhole.

"You think it's following us?" Donnie yelled at Leo.

"I don't know!" he yelled back.

Mikey took a moment to glance behind him only to see what he had hoped wasn't there. "Guys! It's—"

Before he could finish his sentence, a shadow fell over them, and before the turtles landed the creature, Leo's katana still in its hand. Without removing its fiery gaze from the four brothers, it tossed the sword into the alley to its left. From its right thigh, a black substance would spurt every now and then. They assumed that this was its blood.

It was then that it began to morph. The black figure began to undergo a brief metamorphosis, shifting itself into what appeared to be this four-legged animal. Its muzzle was long and pointed like that of a canine, but the roar it emitted once finished transforming was that of a large cat, lion-like. The monster was enormous, at least Leo's size in height.

"Do you think you can escape so easily?" it demanded in its dry voice, which now filled with frustration and tiny bits of laughter.

"Yeah, kinda," Mikey admitted with a shrug.

Its tail, long and bushy like that of a fox, flickered casually behind its massive body. "No… I'm having too much fun. In fact, I haven't had this much fun in what feels like a millennium!" it laughed, throwing its head back and staring at the sky as its pearly smile returned to its face. "And no one ever escapes me… Ever."

"Leo, what are we gonna do?" Raph asked, panic plastered all in his voice. Leo's brothers stared at him, awaiting his answer.

Leo knew that running was now out of the question. He withdrew his single katana from its sheathe, letting the hand that gripped it tightly fall to his side. He watched as the smile on the creature's muzzle widen to a larger crescent, one that if any human tried would surely break his face's muscles.

Upon seeing their brother withdraw his weapon, the other three turtles knew exactly what his choice was. They, too, readied their weapons. Raph twirled his twin Sai around between his fingers as he smiled over at Donnie and Mikey.

"Guys, it's been an honor fighting by your sides," he stated. "And I'm gonna be honest here. I regret being mean to you all these years."

"Really?" Mikey asked, gazing back at his brother with warm eyes. Raph grabbed his younger sibling around the neck, pulling him close, and rubbing a knuckle into his head.

"Yeah, really."

"I just wish I had spent more time with April," Donnie sighed, his body slumping over with his staff in between his hands. He then realized that Raph and Mikey were staring at him with this hateful look and he smiled, revealing the gap in his teeth. "And you guys of course."

"It's not over yet," Leo stated, not taking his gaze off of the monster that stood before them. "We can beat this guy. We just have to work together."

"Yeah, well, when the odds are against you, it doesn't hurt to say your final goodbyes," Raph shrugged.

"Let's give it our all," Leo stated, taking a few steps back to stand with his brothers. They each exchanged glances at one another, smiles on their faces, before finally focusing their eyes on the creature.

Then, in unison, they all shouted, "Booyakasha!"


	4. Discovery

Chapter 4

"Booyakasha!"

The monster and the turtles began charging towards one another. It leaped towards them, landing in the middle of a circle they had unknowingly formed in order to dodge it. Its gaze began shifting around the circle of four ninja turtles, staring them down, awaiting for one of them to make the first move.

Mikey was the first to attack. He ran towards it, jumped, and attempted to hit it from above; however it ducked down, sending him falling forward. He caught himself, doing a back flip to recover from his failed try and raced back in to join his brothers. Donnie was using the unbroken end of his staff to try and bash the creature, but within the first swing of it, the creature caught in in between its fangs and tore it from his grasp, throwing it to the side.

That was when Leo went in to strike; he attempted to jab at the creature, but it grabbed Leo's katana with its fangs as well. Leo had prepared for this. Because the creature had grabbed the sword at a certain angle, the blade was wedged sideways between its upper muzzle and bottom, sharpened side facing the inside of its mouth. Leo effortlessly removed his blade from its mouth, slashing open the sides of its face, making it cry out in agony.

Mikey once again attempted a try at landing a blow on the creature. He threw a strike with his left nunchuck, successfully hitting the stunned monster atop its head, making it grunt in pain. Hoping to land a second hit with his right nunchuck instead of jumping back to avoid a counterattack, he swung his nunchuck at it. It caught it between its bleeding jaws and crushed the wooden stick in two.

Raph seized this moment to attempt to stab its other thigh and jumped high into the air, both Sai pointed downwards towards the creature; however, it was expecting this from him. Mikey hadn't fully let go of his broken nunchuck yet, which was still in its jaws. He swung the stunned, orange-banded turtle around and threw him into the air, sending him spiraling towards Raph.

They both collided and flew over towards the other side of the building. Leo and the now weaponless Donnie rushed in to distract the creature, keeping it from finishing their brothers off. Donnie attempted to kick it while Leo swung his katana at its head. However, the creature had its sights locked on one of the others. It let out an irritated roar, shoving passed the others with brute force and sending them scattering.

Raph hadn't fully recovered to his feet yet. He was attempting to climb up when he felt something push him back down. He looked up and to his horror saw the creature looking down at him with its red, menacing eyes and horrifically wide grin. He squirmed to break free from where it had him pinned, but the monster merely pressed his muzzle against his face.

Raph sneered, "How's that thigh of yours? Bet you thought that was entertaining when I stabbed it with my Sai."

"Oh, I did," it laughed, grin spreading even wider now. "I found it so entertaining that I want a souvenir to remind me of it."

"Oh, you'll have a souvenir alright," Raph stated. "You'll have a pretty little scar."

"Mm, I want something more concrete, something I can hold in between my jaws. Like your arm."

Raph stared in horror as the monster opened its massive jaws and then proceeded to clamp them painfully around his left shoulder, teeth sinking deep into his flesh, nearly piercing the bone. He let out a sharp, frustrated cry of pain as it began to pull back on his shoulder. The sound of flesh ripping could be heard as it pulled, paw pressing against his chest to hold him in place.

Raph's eyes were shut tight in pain, so he didn't see the chain slip around the monster's neck. When the pain stopped, he opened an eye and saw it looking down at the black metal chain pulling against its chest and eventually tightening up around its neck. Both the monster and Raph followed the chain and saw Mikey, Leo, and Donnie pulling back on it with all their might in an attempt to remove the monster from their brother's shoulder.

The red-banded turtle knew that this chain alone wouldn't stop it from continuing its quest at taking his arm. He withdrew one of his Sai and twisted it around in his left hand painfully. The creature snorted in frustration, turning its back on Raph and revealing to him the wound he had already left on it. This was the only spot Raph knew for sure the creature was weak. In one longshot attempt to save his brothers' lives and his own life, he agonizingly forced his injured arm to jab his Sai back into the monster's open wound, this time deeper. He didn't stop until the flesh reached the handle.

The monster let out a cry of pain and anguish as Raph backed away, this time leaving the Sai buried deep inside the wound. His brothers let go of the chain and rushed to his side to help him up. He watched as the monster spun around, biting at the handle, hoping to grasp it and pull it out; it only tangled itself in it, falling onto its wounded side and jabbing the Sai even further.

"Let's get out of here!" Leo yelled, pulling Raph by his right arm towards the edge of the building.

"This isn't over!" the monster shouted. "I'll find you, turtles! I'll find you, and I'll kill every last one of you, starting with you, Raphael!"

• • •

The turtles had managed to climb back into the sewers. Broken, battered, and beaten, they dragged their bodies back towards their home, heads hung low. Leo, who was leading them, couldn't find his voice to speak to them. Usually, after a fight had gone sour, he would tell them they would speak to Splinter about what they should do – with the exception of when they had snuck out to stop Baxter Stockmen. However, he was terrified of telling his father figure that this one entity had beaten them this badly.

None of the turtles had been hurt this bad since their first encounter with the Shredder; it had scared Splinter so badly that he forced them to train nonstop for weeks on end. That was until April came to them with information about a plan the Shredder had to destroy their home, and even then, he had filled their heads with so much fear that they had to overcome it when stopping Shredder's disciples.

Now here they were, beaten up and nearly torn to bits. What would he do if he saw them like this? Would he panic and force them to train in order to be prepared to face their new foe once again?

"We can't tell Splinter about this," Leo finally said, lifting his head from its slump.

"We won't have to. He'll just see us and know that we had our butts kicked," Raph stated. He then proceeded to wince in pain, gripping his left shoulder tightly. It felt as if it would fall off at any moment.

"And it's not like we could hide it, either," Donnie voiced. "Especially Raph."

"Dude, he's so gonna make us train longer than he did when he saw we got our butts handed to us by the Shredder," Mikey spoke. "I can't handle that kind of training, man!"

"None of us can," Leo confessed, glancing to his side. "Maybe we could fake that we didn't get injured and say that Raph hurt his arm in a fight."

"And make me look like I can't hold my own? Yeah, no thanks."

"Well what do _you_ want to do? Hmm?! You want to end up training like we did last time!?" Leo demanded, spinning around to face his injured brother.

"Gee, I don't know! I thought you were the leader. Aren't you supposed to come up with all the ideas around here!?" Raph shouted back. He then winced in agony.

"What if we just didn't go home?" Mikey spoke, making Leo and Raph turn their heads in his direction.

"Actually, that would just make Splinter angry," Donnie commented.

"And he'd probably just finish the job that that thing started," Raph added. "So nice going."

"Well, I don't see you giving out any ideas!" Mikey yelled back.

Raph just shifted his eyes to the side, slumping over slightly. Leo gazed over at Donnie. He then asked, "Donnie, do you have any ideas since Raph doesn't?"

"Well, there's always being honest with Master Splinter about what happened and begging him not to make us endure that training again."

"Yeah, because he's going to listen to that," Raph growled.

Donnie glanced over at his injured brother while he placed his hands onto his hips. "Well, Raph, let's hear your idea."

"Yeah, Raph, c'mon, let's hear them," Mikey insisted.

Raph only stared at the ground. He then sighed and looked back up at his brothers. "Alright, we go with Leo's plan, BUT if we say I was hurt the worst, we make it sound like I went down in style. I want to be fighting five huge, over-muscular thugs, got it?"

Leo nodded. "Alright, here's the story we tell him. We were fighting the Purple Dragons when Dogpound and Fishface showed up with a hoard of Foot ninjas. Dogpound and Fishface singled off Raph and, though being greatly injured, managed to defeat them and returned to us. We all dominated over them and headed back down into the sewers to treat Raph."

Raph smiled. "I like this story."

"That… actually sounds somewhat believable," Donnie voiced.

"Yeah, I like that one," Mikey added.

"And we all stick to this story. No one tells Splinter anything different, okay Donnie?" Leo directed his question at Donatello specifically because of his tendency to tell Splinter the truth. Donnie only gave him a big, embarrassed grin.

"Got it."

"Okay, let's head home."

The rest of the way was filled with silence, the occasionally grunt or moan from pain. Upon reaching their lair, they half-walked/half-crawled into it, avoiding to make any sounds at all in hopes of not alerting Splinter. They walked ever so quietly towards Donnie's lab.

Once they reached it, Donnie began working his magic in healing himself and his brothers. Removing a first-aid kit he had put together from a cabinet above the sink he had put in his lab, he began pulling out bandages, ointments, and his alcohol bottle. Limping over to his brothers, he worked hastily to cover their wounds, sticking Band-Aids on less serious injuries and wrapping bandages around the more serious ones. Mikey let out a few cries of pain when his brother applied alcohol to one of his open cuts.

When it was Raph's turn to be medically treated, it took all of Donnie's might just to get him to reveal his shoulder wound. After assuring Donnie it didn't need much treatment and Donnie saying he believed him, Raph removed his bloodied hand and reveal a gruesome sight. Donnie and the two other turtles crowded around to see his injury up close for the first time.

It was tore open almost completely, some green skin limply hanging around that hadn't been tore off by the vicious monster. Spaced out teeth marks dotted his shoulder line around the worse part of it. Donnie sighed when he saw this.

"Raph," he stated grimly.

"Told you it wasn't bad. It'll be healed up in no time, won't it, Donnie?" He stared back at his purple-banded brother in hopes of hearing him say, "Yeah, Raph. You'll be fine." Instead, he watched his older brother hang his head.

"Let's get you stitched up," Donnie sighed, reaching back into his med-kit and pulling out a needle and some surgical thread.

Raph was at a loss of words. He watched as his sibling threaded the needle with white string and began wondering if he'd lose his arm. Would he be able to fight like he used to or would this injury slow him down? He quickly shook the thought away, refusing to believe that this would be the end of his ninjitsu days.

It didn't hurt when the needle pierced through his loose flesh. Even if it had, Raph wouldn't have flinched. He knew he had to be strong for his brothers. Seeing their frightened and anxious faces made him want to be strong. He was the rock for the family, the protector. Now that he was badly injured, he had to keep up his protector attitude.

"What is going on in here?"

Every turtles' eye averted to the door to Donnie's lab. To their horror, Splinter was staring at them from the doorway, a stern look on his face. Leo walked forward and began giving him his false report of the situation while Mikey backed up every word he said. However, he was failing at the job.

"And if you have _any_ doubt that this story is false, it's not. I was there." Mikey and Leo then proceeded to give their mentor a huge grin to hide their panic. Splinter pushed passed them and glared down at Donnie.

"Donatello, is what your brothers are saying true?"

Raph glanced back at his brother to see he had stopped sewing up his injury. He was quivering slightly. The red-banded turtle knew that Donnie was trying to suppress his urge to tell their sensei the truth. In a large sigh, Raph removed himself from where he had been sitting on Donnie's lab table.

"No, Sensei, they were lying… partially for my sake and partially because they're scared."

"Raph," Leo began, but he shot him a look. Leo fell silent.

"We weren't attacked by the Purple Dragons, and Dogpound and Fishface didn't do this to me. We were on patrol when we heard this cry of terror. We went to investigate and found this… thing… I'm not sure if it was a human or an animal or… whatever else it could be. We thought we could take it, but we should have known just by its appearance that we were in way over our heads… I wounded it and managed to get my brothers away from it, but only for a short time. That's when it ambushed us and… ended up doing this to me." He pointed to the massive bite on his shoulder. "It piled on top of me and was going to take my arm completely off. If Mikey hadn't of wrapped that chain around its neck, it would have, too. Luckily, he… actually thought for once and did the right thing. I managed to shove my Sai back into its wound and we escaped."

"Very resourceful of you and Michelangelo, but I am highly disappointed in that you tried to cover up your injuries with lies."

Raph and his brothers hung their heads in shame. "You aren't gonna make us train like you did with the Shredder, are you?" Mikey asked, raising his head slightly to look at his father, his brothers raising their own shortly after he spoke.

Splinter shook his head; he placed a hand on his youngest son's shoulder. "No, Michelangelo. I have learned that instilling fear in you does no good. It only hinders your ability to perform in battle."

Mikey smiled, glancing over at his brothers to see them smiling as well.

"But, I do not want you staying out passed midnight from now on. If you come in contact with this creature, you must return home immediately. Do _not_ try and make combat with it ever again, understood?"

"Ai, Sensei."

"I'll help you out with the rest, Donatello. Leonardo, you and Michelangelo should head for bed and rest."

"Ai, Sensei," Leo said as he tugged on his youngest brother's arm, pulling him away from his father and other two siblings.

• • •

Leo had awoken early in the morning. He climbed out of bed, glancing at the _Space Heroes _memorabilia clock he'd picked up out of the trash when he and his brothers had gone with Donnie to scavenge for items (which is where Raph had said it had belonged in the first place). Seven in the morning. He had a grand total of five hours of sleep. Perfect. Leo rubbed his tired blue eyes and yawned. He glanced around his room, viewing every _Space Heroes_ poster he had pinned to his walls and viewing all the samurai gear he had.

His head was pounding along with the rest of his body, and for that moment in time, he had forgotten the night before and wondered what had exactly happened. When his memory finally came flooding back a brief moment later, he shouted in shock, "Raph!"

Without even grabbing his bandana, he raced out his room and down the hall to where his younger brother rested. He opened the door to his room only to find the red-banded turtle not to be in his unmade bed. Leo then raced into his living room to find his sibling propped up on the couch, wide awake and watching something on television. Leo sighed in relief, walking down the stairs to great him.

"You're alright?" he called once reaching the bottom.

Raph glanced over his right shoulder. "I guess."

Leo watched his brother stand up, and before he could even turn around, he saw the white bandage placed around his right shoulder and swinging around the front of his body. Raph whirled his body around to reveal the arm brace Donnie and Splinter had apparently applied last night while he and Mikey were sleeping. Leo winced slightly.

"I take it your arm's gonna take a while to heal."

"Yeah, a whole month," Raph growled, throwing the remote onto the couch forcefully. "I gotta go around in this thing for a whole damn month!"

It wasn't like his brother to curse, so Leo could tell he was extremely angry about this whole thing. He observed as Raph let out a frustrated growl. "I'm gonna murder that… that… _monstrosity_ when I get the chance. I'll rip its head off and then… and then…" He kicked the air with his left leg, face twisted into fury.

"I can't even train with you guys!" he screamed. "It's so unfair! I just gotta sit around the damn house and watch TV!"

"It'll give you some time to bond with Spike at least," Leo said optimistically while he forced a smile onto his face in hopes of cheering up Raph.

Raph glared down at the floor. "Eh, that's true. And I can read some of the comics I've been wanting to… Maybe it won't be so bad after all." He looked back up at his brother with a smile.

"Exactly!" Leo chimed, walking back up the stairs towards his room.

"Where're you going?" Raph called out.

"To my room. I'm gonna get dressed and go looking for our missing weapons."

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Leo," Raph voiced.

"It's morning, so that thing is probably resting. I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll just go looking in that alleyway for your Sai and my katana, and if I don't see it, I'll be right back here before I'm missed."

"Alright… but don't do anything stupid. I don't want you to get banged up like I did. Mikey and Donnie can't do patrols on their own, you know."

The eldest turtle only laughed, trudging back up to his room. He began to dress himself, tying his azure bandana around his head and putting on his elbow and knee pads. It was a dangerous risk going out so early when humans were just waking up and heading off to their jobs, but Leo would take the risk. He wanted to find his other sword and hopefully Raph's Sai.

He placed his sword sheathes around his back, buckling them to his belt, and then sheathed his katana. Racing down the stairs, he bid his farewell to his brother and headed out.

• • •

The world was just awakening as Leo dashed over rooftops towards the location he and his brothers had been last night. People were climbing out of their homes and groggily heading towards their occupations. It was strange. Leo wondered that if he and his brothers lived a normal life, would Splinter have a job or continue to remain at home, teaching his sons the ancient art of ninjitsu?

When he arrived at the spot, he jumped down into the alley he had seen that monster throw his sword into and began searching. He scoured through the trash below, taking his search behind a large, faded green trash bin, and then underneath it.

"Looking for this?"

Leo let out a cry of surprise, hitting his head on the bin from where he had flinched. He crawled out from under it, maneuvering around only to find December standing behind him while holding his lost katana in her hand, a half-smile on her face.

"Y-yeah, how'd you—"

"Find it, or know it was yours?" she asked confidently.

"Both, actually."

"I knew it was yours because I saw you using it and your other one the night you helped me defeat those one guys, and I found it when I woke up. It was lying a few tail lengths away from me."

"You sleep in this alley?"

"I sleep wherever I want. Here." She tossed him the katana and he caught it by its handle. Leo then proceeded to sheathe it.

"December, I highly suggest you start sleeping in safer places because—" The turtle stopped when he saw her stumble forward slightly and crying out lightly. He raced to her side, catching her before she could fall to the ground. "You alright?" he asked, placing her back on her feet.

"I'm fine," she stated, pushing him away, only to stumble completely forward, landing on her stomach with a soft thud. She then groaned in pain again.

That was when Leo noticed the warm substance on his hand. Blood. "You're bleeding!" he yelled in surprise.

"Yeah, I accidently stabbed myself on this brown, rusted, metal thing poking out of a building last night when I was asleep." She lifted up part of her skirt on her right side to reveal a deep gash in her thigh, gushing out blood at a fast rate.

"I got it to stop bleeding, but when I moved this morning, I must've opened it again." She seethed in pain while she covered her thigh with her skirt to hide it.

"I gotta get you to Donnie, fast," Leo said while he scooped December into his arms.

"No, put me down. I'm fine, honest!" she argued. She winced in pain when she tried to break free from his grasp. "I can walk when I'm in wolf form, honest."

"No, you're going to see Donnie, even if I have to knock you out to bring you back to him." He threw December over his shoulder and grabbed the ladder to the fire escape to get back up on to the buildings.

December didn't protest anymore. Instead, she allowed Leo to drag her weakening body back to his home.


	5. Cultured

"What is she doing here!?"

Raph stood with Mikey at the base of the stairs that lead out of their lair while they watched their older brother walk into the room with December tight in his arms. He ignored Raph's question as he headed straight towards Donnie's laboratory. He could see sparks flying from where the purple-banded turtle was probably welding something together.

Seeing the sparks and hearing the awful noise as they approached made December growl. She immediately transformed into her dog form and began squirming around to break free. A whimper escaped her lips when she realized it was impossible for her to leave.

"Leo, what is she doing here?" Raph called from behind him, this time calmer.

"Donnie!" Leo yelled. His cry couldn't surpass the sound the welder was making, so Leo walked over to him and lightly tapped him with his foot.

Donnie yelled in surprise, dropping his welding tool and falling onto his bottom. He looked down to see his brother's feet and sighed. He began collecting the welder he had dropped. "Mikey, I already told you, I'm not going to read… you…" he paused when he glanced up to see December glaring down at him, her light jade eyes peering curiously at herself in the reflection of his welding mask. When he removed it to reveal himself, she yelped and pulled back into Leo's arms.

"What is she doing here, Leo?" Donnie questioned.

"Yeah, Leo, what is she doing here?" Raph added as he joined his older brother's side.

"She's hurt and needs treatment. Look." Leo nodded downward and his brothers' gazes followed his gesture to the large gap in December's leg. It was still exerting blood at a fast pace.

"How much blood has she lost?" Donnie asked while he threw his welder and mask down to the ground and rushed towards the sink. There he washed his hands and began fumbling through the cabinet above it for his med-kit.

"A lot I guess," December voiced. "More than I probably should."

"I'm surprised you haven't fainted yet," Donnie commented. He found his kit and began rummaging through it. The turtle withdrew some cotton balls and alcohol.

Raph's eyes were narrowed. He stepped in front of his brother to block his path towards the injured being. He moved his face towards hers to where it was only inches away from her muzzle. His dark green eyes burned into her lime green ones. "How'd you get that wound?" he demanded, voice hinted with curiosity and bits of agitation.

Her own eyes narrowed. "How'd you get yours?" she asked.

"That's none of your concern."

"Well, I guess how I got mine is none of yours, either."

"But it is mine," Donnie growled, shouldering passed his infuriated brother. "So, how did you get it?"

She didn't remove her hate-filled gaze from Raph when she spoke. "I stabbed myself last night."

"On what?" Raph pressed.

"On this brown, rusted, metal thing sticking out of a building."

"You mean a pipe?" Mikey spoke for the first time since they had gathered.

"What's a pipe?" she questioned, glancing behind her towards him.

"You know… a pipe?" Donnie questioned while he began searching in his kit for something else. When December didn't answer, he glanced up to see she was glaring at him with her head titled to the side, ears pushed forward, and the most bewildered look on her face. "A hollowed-out cylinder that can either be made from metal or plastic to hold liquids and in some cases gases, transporting them to and from locations?"

She remained in her confused state of mind until Donnie waved a hand at her. "Never mind, it's not important. Here," he began, withdrawing a syringe filled with a translucent, white liquid. "This is to make sure you don't get lock-jaw from the rust on that pipe. I'm not sure if dogs can get lock-jaw, but it doesn't hurt to be too careful."

December scowled at the word _dog._ "I'm not a dog. I'm a wolf."

"Oh really? Because you sure don't look like one," Raph stated. "In fact, I don't even think that hole is big enough to be pipe stab wound."

A low, thunderous growl began to arise from December's throat as the hairs on her hackles rose. "You calling me a liar, turtle?" Slowly, she rose to her feet, her nails slipping against the table's smooth top for a moment before she caught herself. Her lips were pealing back now to reveal her fangs.

Leo saw that a fight could erupt between the two and so he stepped in to stop it. "Raph, can I talk to you for a second?" he asked, nodding towards the other side of the room.

Raph sighed and walked with his brother away from the other three. Once on the other side, Leo veered his body around to face him. "Raph, what is your problem?" His voice was in a whisper as to not alert the others.

"My problem? I'll tell you what my problem is. Her wound is in the same position of the injury I gave that thing last night!"

"So?"

"So?! Leo, there's no way that stab wound could be a pipe's. She's lying to us! I think she's the one who attacked us last night and is now covering it up with this phony story! I mean, after all, you found your katana, didn't you?"

"No, December found my katana. She said she found it beside her when she woke up this morning."

"Oh, so it was just conveniently lying right next to her? Leo, are you even listening to yourself?"

"Are you even listening to _yourself_? You have no proof that she was that… that THING last night. And besides, she didn't have your Sai on her."

"No, of course she didn't. She didn't have it because it has her blood covering it. She probably disposed of it and then made up this story so she could be brought back her to kill us!"

Leo narrowed his gaze. "Raph, she didn't do this to us. She wouldn't hurt anyone. She's a good person."

"Person?" Raph asked as his face fell back into this clever grin. "I thought she called herself a wolf."

Leo only glared in anger at his brother. He then shoved passed him, walking back over to check in on Donnie's attempt at fixing the damage.

"Well, Donnie?"

Donnie straightened himself and with his hands, motioned for Leo to observe his handy work. He glanced down to see December's leg completely wrapped up in bandages. She was staring up at him with an expressionless stare. When Raph came to Leo's side, her face fell into hostility.

"Happy now? I'm all bandaged up. Now, can I go?" she demanded in a malicious tone of voice.

Leo was taken aback by her hostility. He had wanted to help her; why was she so angry? Donnie shuffled around from behind him.

He voiced, "Oh, no. You aren't going anywhere."

"She's not?" Raph, Mikey, and Leo questioned, Raph's face filled with frustration, Mikey's face filled with excitement, and Leo's expression having an unknown look in it.

"I'm not?" December looked up at the stern-faced turtle with a glimpse of shock. It faded into anger. "You can't just keep me here!"

"Yeah, we can't just keep her here!" Raph yelled as he ran around to the other end of the table. "She'll see all of our stuff!"

"No, she's not going anywhere. The injury she suffered is serious and she's lost a ton of blood. Her body's going to have to replenish it. Now, I can't do blood transfusions because I wouldn't know where to begin to find the right match for hers or whether to use animal's or human's, but, however, I can provide the medical care she needs to replenish it on her own. I'll just have to use a sample of her blood and run a few tests, but I should be able to make a chemical to speed up the blood producing process for a short amount of time. Also, because of the injury she suffered, she's going to need her bandages changed periodically. None of this can be done with her away from the lair. And, to add to it, she has to remain perfectly still for the rest of the day to allow her body to form a scab that will be stout enough to stop the bleeding. So, because of all of this, she can't leave the lair!"

"You said you're giving her a chemical? Kinda like the one you gave me?" Raph asked curiously.

"Sort of, only it's going to be a little more difficult to get the things for her. If she really is a wolf, I'll have to get different chemicals to add to it to stimulate her blood. Plus, we suffer from a mutation, she doesn't."

Raph saw from the corner of his eye December bite her lip nervously and he frowned. His eyes narrowed. Before he could say anything, Mikey pushed passed him.

"Alright!" Mikey shouted as he threw his hands into the air excitedly. "We get to have a dog!"

He made an attempt to hug December, but she let out a threatening growl and stated, "You touch me and I'll rip your throat from your neck."

Mikey stopped and merely ruffled her fur atop her head. "Ahe, nice doggy."

"Leo, I need you to move her over to the couch, please," Donnie instructed. Leo nodded his head and scooped December up into his arms again. He then transferred her over to their couch where she lay slumped over, disgusted that she would be stuck with the turtles. Mikey rushed passed him towards his room.

"Great, as if it wasn't bad enough I had this bummed arm, we gotta have this dog getting its fur all over the sofa!" Raph exclaimed. He threw his unharmed arm up into the air as he shouted this.

December glanced over at him. "Lemme get this straight," she started. "You're complaining about my fur getting on your couch, yet you live underground in this damp, smelly, and run-down cavern located under the vilest of cities I've ever been in? Am I getting this right?"

"Yeah, you are," he said while shaking his head slightly.

"Okay, just makin' sure."

"This is gonna be so sweet!" Mikey enthused, returning from his trip to his room. In his arms were a stack of comic books. He sat them down on the table; December could only glare in wonderment at why he was keeping all that paper.

"I can finally read my comics to someone!"

"Comics?" December questioned, gazing up at Mikey with curious eyes. "What are comics?"

Mikey's mouth dropped. "You've never heard of comics before?" When December shook her head, he fell to his knees, gripping one of the comic books he had grabbed off the top in his hands tightly. "What is the world coming to!? A person who doesn't know what a comic is!? Blasphemy!"

"Do you even know what 'blasphemy' means, Mikey?" Donnie called from his lab.

"No, but it's fun to say. Okay, December, prepare for your mind to be ba-lone." The orange-banded turtle plopped down at her side and opened his comic to the first page. "Okay, first off, a comic is like a story, but with pictures and stuff."

"Pictures?"

"Yeah, you know…" He held up the first page to show December the first panel. "Those guys in that panel? Someone drew that. That's a picture."

"People… draw pictures… to tell stories?"

"Yeah, well, some people do. Some write stores, which are incredibly boring." He leaned in and whispered, "But don't say that around Donatello because he will get really angry."

"Get angry about what?" Donnie asked as he poked his head in between the two.

"Uh, nothin'. We were just… discussing comic books, Donnie."

Donnie left and Mikey blew a sigh of relief. "Okay, now, I want you to know that this comic is completely false."

"A story that is false? Isn't that lying?" she asked, tilting her head to the side and pushing her ears forward.

"N-no, they aren't really saying it's true, so it's not lying. It's just a story."

"So… it's like a legend."

"No, it's a story."

"A myth."

"No, it's not based on anything. It's a story. You know… like the _Three Little Pigs and the Big, Bad Wolf_?"

"Big, bad wolf? You mean there are stories you people tell involving wolves as being… bad?"

"Yeah, like in the _Three Little Pigs_. 'Little pig, little pig, let me in!' 'Not by the hairs on my chinny-chin-chin!' 'Then I'll huff and I'll puff and I'll ba-low- your house down!'" Mikey proceeded inhale a deep breath and then blow it out his mouth. He then began laughing, his hands on his stomach and his feet in the air kicking.

December scowled at him. "Wolves do not blow air on people's houses!" she exclaimed. "They do not knock people's houses over! We do nothing, yet you people tell lies!"

"December, it's… just a story," Mikey stated as his eyes darted from side to side. "It's not meant to be taken literally."

"No, of course not. It isn't meant to be taken literal at all. Just all fun and games. Well, how would you like it if I drew or wrote a story about turtles going around and blowing human's houses down? Hmm?"

"I'd probably laugh at the image of a turtle blowing a house down," Mikey admitted, giggling.

December held an angry look, but when she started to imagine a turtle toppling over a human-built building with only it's breath, she began laughing as well. "Yes… it… is kinda humorous. Haha. And hey, the idea of a wolf doing it is pretty funny, too!"

"Yeah! It's funny because wolves can't really do that. You're just like, 'A wolf? Blowing down a house!? What kind of weirdo would write a story about that?'"

Mikey and December blurted out in laughter, filling the entire room with the noise. It was so loud that Splinter was alerted to it. He came out of his room and stormed into the den to find his son and a strange black dog on the couch in tears from laughing so hard.

"Michelangelo, who are you laughing with?!"

They ceased their laughter. Their heads shot into the direction of Splinter to see him standing in the doorway to the turtles' training room. Raph, who had been feeding Spike in the corner, spoke up.

"It's Leo's new pet."

"Leonardo's new… pet?"

"She's not my pet!" Leo yelled from atop the staircase. He jumped down and landed in front of his mentor. "She's the girl I told you about, sensei. This is December."

December bowed her head the best she could from her spot on the couch. "It is an honor to meet you, sir."

"What is she doing here, Leonardo?"

"She was injured badly, so I brought her back here."

"You mean you left the lair before nightfall?" Splinter questioned, head raised to where his nose stuck in the air.

"Hai, sensei. I went to retrieve my lost katana and Raph's Sai. I only found my weapon, though." He awaited Splinter to punish him. Raph was also waiting. He was giddy with excitement, hoping Splinter would force Leo to take her back above ground and as far away from him as possible.

Instead, Splinter placed a hand on Leo's shoulder. "Leonardo, while I understand that compassion is an important part of being a ninja, there is a difference between compassion… and stupidity."

Leo's gaze fell to the floor. "I understand, sensei."

"But, you cannot undo what is done. Let us hope your sense of judgment is correct."

"Thank you, sensei. I know you won't be disappointed."

December only stared in confusion. Sense of judgment? What did they mean? She glanced over at Mikey who staring back at her with a look of unknowing. "Do you feel like you're missing something?"

"All the time."

Splinter left the room to head back to his meditation. Leo glanced over at December and smiled warmly. She didn't return it. Instead, she settled back down beside Mikey who was getting ready to read his comic to her.

Leo sighed sadly and began trudging back up to his room.

• • •

"What is a television?"

December was staring at the odd black box placed in front of her. It had just flickered on, casting a light on her. On the screen, she could see humans scurrying around inside. It shocked her. She barked at it while trying to scoot away, afraid.

"They're trapped inside!" she shouted. Leo, who had turned on the television, only smiled up from where he sat on the floor, back propped up on the couch.

"No, no. They aren't trapped. It's all recorded."

"Re-recorded?"

"Yes. They use this machine called a camera to film—or record—people. They act out whatever it is they're doing. Sometimes, they record animals out in the wild." He flipped the channel over to a nature documentary to show a cheetah dashing across the screen in slow-motion

"I-I'm not sure how I feel about them recording unknowing animals. If humans see how we behave, they might get ideas on how to track us and kill us."

"Nah. Most people, who watch nature documentaries like this, want to learn about animals, not hunt them. It's just for educational purposes." He flipped the channel again over to his favorite television series, _Space Heroes. _The theme song was playing.

"This is a cartoon. It's drawn out, like the comics, but the characters are given voices by people, and it's all put on film and displayed for people to watch."

December observed carefully as the theme song ended and the show started. She watched as the captain and his crew went on a mission. Leo was so absorbed into it that he didn't notice Raph moving over to where they were.

"You're seriously going to subject her to this show? Leo, I thought you liked her."

"Shh!" Leo hissed, putting a finger over his mouth. "This is my favorite part."

"Captain!" a man on the screen shouted. "It seems the evil alien race is going to fire a laser canon at the moon!"

"Not if we can help it. Suit up those two people I can't ever remember the names of. They're going to stop it."

"Rodriguez… and you, the other guy, gear up. You're going out!"

The two men suited up and floated out into space where they were zapped by the canon. The captain turned towards the camera and smiled. "All in a day's work."

It was then the screen faded to a black and some white writing started scrolling up the screen slowly. December glanced down at Leo. "What is this?"

"Oh, these are the credits. It shows who helped make the show."

"Which means it's over… finally…" Raph growled.

"So, what did you think, December?" Leo asked, looking up at her.

"Oh, it was rather… interesting…" she replied, head tilting to her right side.

"Bad, wasn't it?" Raph questioned.

"No, it wasn't bad. I just… didn't quite comprehend most of it is all. All of this… technology-oriented talk… I'm just unfamiliar with it."

"Well, I have a DVD with the first season on it if you'd care to watch it," Leo suggested, pointing with his thumb towards his room upstairs.

"DVD?"

"It's a disk that holds television shows and movies on it so you can put it into a machine that shows you the episodes and movies on your television. It's like watching TV, but you can control what you watch when you watch DVDs."

December only stared blankly at him. Leo rose to his feet. "I'll just show you. I'll be right back."

He raced off towards his room, climbing up the stairs and dashing down the hall. Once inside, he began fumbling through one of his drawers against his wall, searching for the disk he had spoken off. Raph, who had been following behind him the whole time, propped himself up against the door frame.

"Can't find it?" he questioned as he watched his brother look underneath his bed in search of the disk.

"No, I can't. Have you seen it?"

"Ya know, she's kinda like Mikey in a way… only a lot… denser."

Leo stiffened himself and faced Raph, glowering. "She's not dense. She's a wolf, remember? So of course she wouldn't know anything about technology or what humans do."

"Yet she has a human form. Leo, are you really buying this act of hers?"

"You think she's pretending?! Up, found it." He located the DVD on a shelf just above his bed. He walked towards the door when Raph blocked his path.

"Yes, I do. No one is this stupid. And no wolf looks like what she does. She isn't telling us something, and I want to know what it is."

"We gotta earn her trust, Raph. If you'd actually give her a chance, she might tell you something."

With that, he ran back towards the couch with the DVD tight in his hands. Once there, he demonstrated how the DVD works, showing December that he inserted it into a grey device that was connected to the television set. Once inserted, he switched the channel with the remote to the right one, the one where it said "DVD" in white letters on a blue screen. From there, he hit the play button on the DVD player, and it took him to a screen that had several options. He hit play and the DVD began playing.

December never missed a word and would reiterate everything he was saying back to him. She comprehended everything. Leo sat back down in a spot close to her and they began watching the very first episode of _Space Heroes_ together.

It didn't take her long to comprehend just what was happening. While Leo would get frustrated when his brothers interrupted him while he was watching the series, he never got angry when December would speak up and ask a question or to comment about what was happening. Instead, he would pause the show and answer her question or discuss her comment with her. By the end of the first season, December had a full understanding of what the show was about.

When it finally ended, Leo removed the DVD and placed it back in his case. He then sat down to where he was looking at December, legs crossed. "Well? What do you think of the series now?"

"It's really good, actually," she answered, sitting up slightly. "I'm just… not a huge fan of the Captain."

"Not a huge fan of the Captain!" Leo exclaimed. His mouth gaped open in surprise. "How could you _not_ like him!? He's the perfect leader!"

"I… wouldn't really consider him the… perfect leader," she said as she placed her head on her paws. "The leader my pack had was far better."

"Your… pack's leader?"

December raised her head back up and nodded. "Wolves live in packs, you know, and each pack as an Alpha, a Beta, runners, attackers, trackers, and an Omega. One of the leaders my pack was blessed with was amazing at what he did."

"Oh really?" Leo asked. "How was he amazing?"

"He didn't really define rank. Ranks weren't a huge thing to him. We were all equal in his eyes, even the Omega, which is the weakest wolf in the whole pack. He was fair and understood that not ever wolf is given the same talents. Some were better fighters; some were better runners. He just saw them as… wolves. That man… the Captain… he does not see his men as men. He sees them based on how much they have to offer to the pack, which is why he kept sacrificing those two guys, Rodriguez and… that other guy. He didn't see them as important."

"But every leader has to make sacrifices. You can't expect a commander to go to war and come back with all of his men," Leo argued.

"No, you can't, but if a commander is a good commander, he will do everything in his power to keep those men alive, just like if an Alpha is a good Alpha, he will do everything he can to help his pack survive. And that is just exactly what my leader did." December glared deep into Leo's eyes. "

"You guys have some sort of culture?"

December nodded. "You two-legs look down upon us animals like we are lowly creatures. We may not comprehend technology nor do we desire to understand the unknown, but we are intelligent." She rested her head back on her paws.

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you leave your pack?" Leo questioned.

"I didn't… they were killed by this… monster. Slaughtered like animals." She sighed through her nose, shifting her gaze from the wall back to Leo.

"Oh… I-I'm awfully sorry," he apologized quickly.

"Why apologize for something you cannot help? Apologies do no one good in a situation such as this. You are not comforting me, and you are not making amends for something you have done," she stated abruptly, making Leo only stare in disbelief. "That and apologies don't bring back the dead. And besides, the leader I spoke of was long gone by the time my pack died."

"That's… that's a shame."

"It's getting awfully late," December commented, closing her eyes. "You should rest."

"Oh, right. I guess I'll see you in the morning then, huh, December?"

"Yes. Goodnight, Leonardo. May your dreams be filled with fresh game and tall forests."

"Goodnight, December. Sweet dreams."


	6. Learning

Chapter 6

"Good morning, December!"

December felt something prod the top of her head gently. Her eyes fluttered open and she glanced up to see Mikey grinning widely down at her. He backed away and allowed her to push herself up from where she had been laying. She then began stretching her forelegs, wriggling her paws and arching her back, tail stuck out in a curve and tongue curling in a yawn. After stretching that part of her body, she began stretching her hind legs. First her left, then her…

A sharp pain struck her thigh and she let out a loud yelp of pain. It hurt so agonizingly that she even yipped at where it had come from and fell back down onto her stomach. That was when Donnie and Leo showed up to see what was going on.

"What's happening?" Donnie asked.

"December, are you hurt?" Leo questioned, coming to her side to aid her.

"My hip is killing me… make it stop…" she groaned, wriggling around in pain.

"I can get her some pain killers. She'll have to transform to take them, though, and I don't know if her metamorphosis will affect her scab or not."

"I don't care. Just get me the damn pills!" she shouted, teeth clenched tight.

Donnie rushed off towards his lab while Raph walked casually over towards her and the others. He watched as she transformed into her human self. December was on her stomach and had to maneuver herself around to sit up. She painstakingly pushed herself up with her hands and carefully sat down on her bottom, purple bangs shrouding her face. She pushed them away in frustration.

"I hate having this fur," she growled, spitting out a few of her hairs.

"You mean hair?" Raph asked.

"Whatever. Donatello better hurry back with those pain killers. My leg's starting to go numb from the pain."

"How do you even know what a pain killer is? I thought you were a wolf," Raph questioned as he narrowed his eyes at her.

"Because I'm in pain and he wants to give them to me to stop the pain. What do you think I'm some kind of idiot?!" she yelled at him.

Raph only stared, eyes wide open with disbelief that she had snapped at him like that. December threw her head back and gritted her teeth tightly, hands squeezing the sofa's cushion. Leo shouted back towards the lab, "Donnie, we need those pain killers now!"

"I'm hurrying as fast as I can!" Donnie yelled back. He removed some bandages and the pain medication from his medical kit, closed it, and shoved it back up into the cabinet above his sink. He dashed into the living room again and extended his hand that held the pills towards December. "Take these. This should numb the pain after a while."

"After a while?!" she exclaimed as she snatched the pills from his hand. "I'm in pain _now_!"

"They take time to work, December," Donnie explained. He kneeled down in front of her, unraveling some of the bandages he had brought with him. "Your body has to break the pills down and then the medicine has to circulate through your bloodstream. That's how medicine works."

December groaned while she shoved the two small pills into her mouth. She swallowed them and tried to relax. She felt Donnie tug on her injured leg, making her jump in shock and glare down at him. "Donatello, what are you doing?"

"Your bandages need changing and I have to clean your wound if it hasn't scabbed over yet."

"No," she growled, trying to push away from him but failing. "Don't you come near me. It hurts too badly. Stay back."

"December, I have to change it. If I don't, it can get seriously infected," Donnie tried to reason, but she attempted biting him when he made a move for her bandages.

"Raph, Leo, Mikey, can you secure her for me?"

Raph grinned widely. "Gladly." He grabbed her left shoulder with his uninjured hand, Leo taking the right shoulder. Mikey held her leg down. December began letting out cries of frustration through her gritted teeth. She squirmed to break free.

"Donnie, hurry up and do what you're going to do," Raph said as he struggled to keep her held still.

"She's… she's really strong."

Donnie already had her old, bloodied bandages off. He swabbed the wound with a cotton wad that had been dipped in alcohol, making her scream. Mikey nearly lost control her left leg. After Donnie cleaned it, he began wrapping the bandages around the leg as fast as his hands would go.

"Hey guys," called a feminine voice. April entered the lair carrying three boxes of pizza with her. "I got that pizza you ordered. I was just-" She let the pizza fall from her hands as her mouth gaped open widely. April stared at the sight of the four turtles pinning down a pale girl, who was clearly in agonizing pain, Donnie's hands on her right thigh.

From the corner of his eye, Donnie saw April staring in shock and horror at the sight and he felt his face grow warm from embarrassment. He scrambled over towards her, tripping over December's left leg and falling on his face. "April!" he screamed, frantically flailing his arms in a failed effort to lift himself up. Once finally on his feet, he rushed to her side. "It-It's not what it looked like! I-"

A loud crash could be heard. Donnie and April glanced in the direction of the couch to see Mikey, Raph, and Leo all thrown up against the wall in a heap. December was wrapping up the bandages Donnie had started for her, right leg on the couch so she could reach her hip properly.

"Who is she?" April asked, pointing to her.

"I am December," December answered before Donnie could. She tucked the loose end of the wrappings underneath the rest and pulled her black stocking up over it. Then, she smoothed out her skirt and walked over to join Donnie and April. "And you are?"

"April O'Neil," April said. "I'm a friend of the turtles."

"April O'Neil," December repeated staring at her with her neon lime green eyes. She then smiled brightly. "It is good to meet a friendly girl."

"Yeah, umm, shouldn't you check up on the others? I mean, you did kinda throw them across the room."

"Oh, right!" December turned around and ran over to where the other turtles had landed. "Leonardo, Michelangelo, are you guys alright?"

Mikey rubbed his head while Leo worked his arm around to make sure it was feeling good. Raph struggled to push himself up with his one arm, only falling back down. From the corner of his eye he could see December aiding his brothers, pulling them up from the floor. However, she ignored him and padded back over to Donnie and April.

"Hey!" he shouted angrily from his spot on the floor. "What about me!?"

December sighed and went to help him off the floor. She extended her hand for him to grab; he grasped it with his good hand and she helped him to his feet. Raphael brushed himself off. "Thanks," he grunted while adjusting his arm sling.

"Whatever."

He watched as the girl walked away from him with shock. It faded to anger. He followed behind her as they all headed towards the training room. Upon entering, December gasped, glancing around at all the odd paintings that were plastered onto the walls. They were so colorful, so vibrant. She could see people holding weapons of every sort, some she had never seen before. These people hid their faces, though, whether it was behind a large, pointed helmet or a mask.

"It is Japanese art," she heard a voice say from behind her. She turned to see Splinter standing over her.

"It's… beautiful. Absolutely gorgeous." She reached out to touch the wall. It wasn't rough to the touch like all the others her hand had brushed against. It was softer, paper-like. Her hand brushed against a large human wearing some heavy-set clothing.

"That is a samurai. They were great and noble warriors from Japan," Splinter explained. "Their weapon of choice was the katana."

"Why do they hide themselves behind all that clothing?" she asked, glancing up at him with curious eyes.

"They wore it for protection. In order to stay alive and stop their opponents from slicing them to bits, they would wear this armor. The armor became symbolic over the years and it became a custom for samurais to wear such armor."

"But the others… the smaller ones… why do they cloak their faces behind masks?" Her hand ran over a smaller human in a tighter outfit.

"They are ninjas, masters at both stealth and combat. They hid their faces so that their true identity would remain a mystery to their opponent. It would be very dangerous if a ninja were to reveal his identity to his opponents, for they could use it against him." Splinter placed his hand on December's shoulder softly, making her look up at him.

"Humans are fascinating," she stated as she glanced over at the paintings one last time. She then moved over to the other side of the room where a smaller picture sat atop a shelf. Around it were white lotuses and lilac. Two candles also burned beside it. December picked it up and stared it.

It was a photo of a man standing beside what she assumed was his mate. His mate was holding in her hands a small human cub, probably a newborn. She rubbed her finger over the glass gently, her eyes locked on the child.

She then glanced to her left to find Splinter was standing at beside her. She held up the photo and pointed to the male figure in it. "This is you, isn't it?"

"Yes. Very clever of you, December."

"I could tell by your scent that you weren't a rat. Your scent is… musky in a way. Human-like." She then returned her gaze to the photo as her hands ran over the child. "And this is your cub, isn't it?"

"Yes. She was my daughter Miwa"

"Might I ask what happened?" December questioned.

"My family was destroyed by an enemy of mine. My life before my sons taken all because a feud." Splinter glanced down at the photo December held tightly between her hands. "I would like to think that Miwa would have grown up to be a fine young woman."

December smiled gently. "In a way, I can understand how you feel."

"Oh?" he asked, raising his brow over his left eye.

"My family was taken from me as well," she explained, glancing over to her side as a look of chagrin fell onto her face. "Twice, at that."

"My deepest sympathies," he said.

"Condolences will not bring them back, so please, spare me them," she stated with a smile. "And besides, if apologies could bring back the dead and correct the past, life would be simpler."

"Mm, yes, but it doesn't hurt to accept someone's sympathy. Just because you accept someone's pity does not make you weak. If anything, it strengthens you."

December bit her lip, her eyes not meeting his. She nodded, slowly slipping back into the living room. From behind her, she heard Splinter yell a word of some sort, possibly a different language. She could hear the shuffling of feet and knew that the turtles were going to train. As curious as she was about this ninjitsu art, she didn't feel like watching them at the moment.

Instead she trudged slowly over to the couch where she fell and curled up into a ball. Pushing her eyes together tightly, she held back the water that leaked from her eyes when she was sad. Why humans did this, she didn't know, but it was rather embarrassing. She lay until finally slipping into unconsciousness.

She didn't know how long she had been asleep when she awoke to the sound of the _Space Heroes_ theme. Her vision was blurred from her slumber. She had to rub her eyes a couple of times before finally having her vision focus in on the television screen.

"I hate falling asleep as a human," she grunted in disgust. Her leg was still hurting, but not as bad as it had been when she first woke up in the morning. The pain medication really did work.

Leo was sitting on the opposite end of the couch from her. She observed as he bit off a piece of a triangle-shaped food item. Pushing herself up from where she was laying, she pointed to what he was consuming and asked, "What is that?"

Leo looked down at the item he held and stated, "Pizza."

"Peet-za?"

"Yeah, pizza. Would you like some?" He grabbed a square box with a man tossing some round white thing in the air on top. Opening it, he revealed a single triangle inside.

She wasn't very fond of human food in the slightest; in fact, she hated human food with a passion. Her stomach, however, was grumbling. Her last decent meal was the one Leonardo had brought her, so sucking up her fear of it tasting terrible, she reached in and picked it up.

She sniffed it; it reeked of grease. Making a disgusted face, she opened her mouth and bit off a tiny morsel of the food item, chewing on it slowly. Her chewing rate quickened when she got her first taste of this pizza. It was actually good and not too stale. Yes, she could enjoy eating this.

December wolfed down her portion and immediately began sniffing around for another. She caught whiff of a slice, her gaze veering over to Mikey who was reading a comic book. December crawled over to him and immediately began staring up at him with pouting eyes. He removed his eyes from the comic book and opened his mouth to ingest his slice when he saw her on her knees below him, glaring up at his slice of pizza with sad eyes.

"No, December, my pizza."

She let out a light whimper from her throat, moving closer to him. Mikey's bottom lip began to quiver as his eyes watered. It was one of the saddest sights he had ever seen. He looked at his slice of pizza, then at December, and finally sighed. "Okay, here. But you aren't getting the next one, okay?"

December snatched it from his hand and gobbled it down. She then returned to Leo's side to watch the show with him. After it was over, Leo stretched his arms above his head and yawned loudly. He then scratched his chest while turning his attention to December.

"So, what were you and Master Splinter talking about today?" he asked casually.

"His family." She glanced over at the training room. "His daughter was absolutely beautiful."

"The Shredder killed them."

"You mean the man over those guys who attacked me? The one you wanted to know about?"

Leo nodded and her fists tightened. "Humans are such cruel creatures."

"Tell me about it," Mikey voiced. "The other day, I saw this one guy throw out a perfectly good pizza. Never saw humans the same way again."

Leo and December only blinked in response to Mikey's story. He shook his head slightly. "They can be, but there are good humans, too, like April."

"And then there are humans who are like the Shredder," Raph said as he entered the room, Spike riding on his shoulder. "And his daughter, Karai. Both are evil and need to be stopped."

"Why would someone kill a child?" December questioned aloud. "They're so… innocent… so helpless."

"It's because the Shredder feels nothing but hatred, December," Leo stated as he climbed to his feet. "He's cruel, heartless. Right now, he's trying to find our location and kill us."

"But… why?" Her eyes drifted up to him. "Why is he looking for you?"

"Because we're Splinter's family," Raph answered. "He wants to destroy us and Splinter and will do anything in his power to do so, crushing anyone in his path that stands in the way."

"And we can't face him on our own," Mikey added, glancing up from his comic book.

"December, this is what I was trying to tell you that day I came to see you. We need your help. Please… help us stop this guy."

Leo watched with hope swelling in his heart. He observed December's eyes dart from side to side, almost as if searching for the correct answer to his question. He was confident that she would help them now.

"I-I can't, Leonardo."

Leo's hope crushed into tiny pieces. It seemed they all fell around him and the sound taunted him in his mind. Raph, who had begun to hope that December wasn't as bad as he thought, was now infuriated. He let out a roar.

"Why not!?" he demanded viciously.

"Because I'm here in this city to take care of my own business," she stated. "Someone who has wronged me, and I'm going to make sure that he never wrongs another person again."

"Are you talking about the person who killed your pack?" Leo asked.

Raph loosened his tensed muscles, face falling back into shock. "Killed your pack? What?"

"You could say that, yes." December fumbled with her fingers nervously, not wanting to meet either turtle's gaze. "It's a long story. Really… long story."

"Well, we have the time if you'd like to talk about it," Leo suggested with a smile.

"Look, I'm not sure what the term 'long story' means in your culture, but in mine, it means both the length of the story and that the person doesn't want to discuss it further."

Leo's face fell slightly and he sighed. "I understand. If you ever want to talk about it, we're here for you."

She forced a smile to her face. "Thank you."

"December!" The three looked up to see Donnie was standing at the door to his laboratory. He motioned for her to follow him, and so she nodded, getting up off the couch and padding over towards him. They entered inside and he held up an empty syringe. "I need to take a blood sample from you so I can create that serum to help your body produce the right amount of blood."

"Can't you use the blood I spilled yesterday?" she asked as she lifted herself onto the metal table.

Donnie shook his head. "It's not that simple. I need blood from your body now. I have to measure the blood cell count correctly because if I get it too high, it could have serious consequences and overload your body with blood, and if I get it too low, it could slow down the process. So I have to be exact."

"Oh, alright." She pulled down one of her fishnets and observed Donnie wrapping a thin piece of rubber around her upper arm. He thumped around her arm until finding a vein he was satisfied would give him enough blood to sample. Then, he pierced through her flesh and began drawing a small amount.

"This should do. If you'd just wait here a moment, I'll measure your count and have that medicine mixed up in a jiffy."

She nodded. Donnie walked over to his microscope. From there he took one of the small, frail, empty glass slides from the container he kept beside it. He placed some of the blood onto the slide and then covered it up with another slide similar to it. Once done with this process, he placed it under the microscope and began observing it.

After a few minutes, Donnie began murmuring to himself. "Mm… hmm… that's odd."

"Odd? What's odd?" December asked.

Donnie looked up from the microscope and over his shoulder. "Well, from what I can tell, your blood count is… normal."

"Normal? As in I don't need any blood?"

"Yes. Your body replenished the blood it lost overnight, which is… very odd." He then grabbed one of his notebooks off the lab table and a pencil and ran back over to the microscope.

"Can… I go… then?" she asked, trying to peer around him to see exactly what he was doing.

"Hmm? Oh! Oh yeah. You can go."

She hopped down from the table and walked back into the den. She moved over back close to Leo, sitting down next to him and relaxing a bit. Leo fidgeted awkwardly when her skin brushed against his, making her glance over at him to see he was staring forward with an awkward stare. "What?" she asked, making him look over at her.

"Nothing," he stated. "I'm fine. Are you fine? I'm fine. Perfectly fine."

"Smooth," they heard Raph call from across the room.

"So, um, what did Donnie want?" he asked, trying to make conversation.

"It had to do with my body making blood. Said that he was gonna give me a serum or something, but instead it ended up my body was fine," she explained.

"Even after all the blood you lost yesterday?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah, I guess so." She laughed lightly. "I already figured that, though."

"What do you mean?"

"I heal quicker than most. It's… kinda hard to explain."

"Alright." Leo then paused, glancing around the room while he searched his head for something to say. "Hey, December."

"Mm?"

"Why don't you tell me about your pack a little? That is, if you want."

"There's not much to tell," she admitted. "They were wolves."

"Yeah, but… what did you guys do? Like, your lifestyles and stuff?"

"Our lifestyles were just like any other wolf pack out there. We hunted, howled, slept… Shared stories and legends on full moons… We supported one another, like a pack should," she stated.

"Do you ever miss it?" She looked up to see Mikey on the opposite end of the couch lying on his stomach, face cupping his hands and legs pulled into the air.

"More than anything, Michelangelo. I would give anything in this whole world to go back to that simplistic lifestyle. For the longest time, I've been alone, and being a wolf, loneliness is harsh and cruel. We are social creatures and crave for socialization among peers. And for so long, I have been wandering around in search of the creature that destroyed that life for me." Her hands tightened into fists.

"Man, it sure sounds exciting to be a wolf. Live in friends, howl at the moon… Only downside is that I wouldn't have pizza."

He grabbed an empty pizza box that had been sitting on the floor and crushed it gently into his chest. He stroked it gently and whispered, "I'll never leave you." Mikey rubbed his cheek against the cardboard softly.

"It must be pretty difficult to live in New York then. You must've had to make a huge adjustment to everything," Leo stated.

"Yes, it is difficult to live on the streets, but I have lived in cities before. Never this big, mind you. However, no matter where it is you go, one thing is always the same. Human food. Blech."

"What's wrong with human food?" Mikey asked curiously.

"Human food is filled with all of these chemicals used to preserve it. I can tell that just by tasting it, and while dogs seem to think it's delicious, I certainly do not. When you live two years in the wilds and eating nothing but the freshest of meats, you can't really make the change."

"Two years? How old are you, exactly?" Leo questioned.

"Two and a half years old," she stated proudly. "I'll be three years exactly in December."

"That would make you around fourteen in human years, right?"

"Wait, human years are different from dogs?"

"Actually," Donnie began, emerging from his lab, "she'd probably be older, to be exact. Wild wolves don't tend to live as long as dogs. On average, it's about fifteen years for wolves and around twenty for dogs. Their lifespan's probably decreased due to the fact that they're hunted by humans often, so given that, I'd add about two years to her age and say she'd be around sixteen in human years. Of course, that is a rough estimation, seeing as how their population has steadily increased over the years and that they are no longer located on the endangered species list anymore."

They all stared at him with unblinking expressions. "It's important to be accurate," he stated.

"So you're April's age then," Leo summed up.

"Sweet. We're fifteen."

"All of you are litter mates?" she asked, gazing around at the four turtles.

"Well, technically, we don't know for sure if we are litter mates," Donnie voiced. "We were purchased at a pet store as babies by Splinter."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, and then, while he was walking home, we were exposed to… MUTIGEN!" Mikey held up his hands and wriggled his fingers, giving December a frightening look. She only giggled. "And that's when we were born."

"So there's no way to know for sure if we're all really related," Leo added. "But that doesn't really bother us. We grew up as brothers and will always be brothers."

"Whether blood brothers or not," Raph finished as he sidled over to the back of the couch and leaned over against it.

"You all are very lucky to have one another," December said with a smile, her gaze drifting to each of them.

"Do you have any brothers or sisters, December?" Mikey asked with a smile.

"I'm afraid not, Michelangelo," she sighed. "My siblings perished when our litter was struck with a sickness. I was the sole survivor."

"That's… that's really sad," Donnie commented, his expression changing into a depressed and concerned look.

"At least you survived," Leo stated optimistically.

"It came at a cost, though. While I did catch the disease, my body was able to fight it off. However, it couldn't save the damage that had already been done to my body." Her face held a grim, almost lifeless expression. "It made me barren."

Mikey let out a sigh of relief. "Phew, at least it's nothing serious."

Raph slapped the back of his head. "That means she can't have children, shell-for-brains!"

"Oh!" His face fell into nervousness. "There's always adoption."

"Adopt? A wolf cub?" December asked, eyes filled with rage.

"It's not like she can go to an adoption center and say she wants a wolf cub," Donnie explained, a scorn on his face. "That's not how it works in the wild."

"No, it's not," December agreed. "Wolf cubs who've been orphaned by both parents are usually raised by other pack members, and if there are no other pack members in the pack, they quickly fall victim to animals, like the lynx, cougar, or other carnivores. I've even heard stories of humans taking them."

"Oh." Mikey wracked his brain for something to say to make the situation better. "Well, at least you won't have to spend money on toys."

Everyone groaned while Mikey grinned nervously. Raph glanced over at his brother in utter disbelief that he had even went that far. "Mikey, just stop talking."

"Will do."

"December," began Leo, "we're all very sorry that you can't have children. I know you probably don't want our sympathy, but… just know we're here."

Her head was facing the ground off to the side; her expression brimmed with anger, though Leo wasn't sure who it was directed to – him, Mikey, or herself. She then muttered under her breath, "Just save your sympathy." Her gaze returned to Leo and fire seemed to dance behind the tears that were beginning to brim around her eyes. "I don't need it."

"You know, you have a really odd way of saying thanks," Raph commented. "Or maybe you're just ungrateful."

She growled, "No, I'm not ungrateful. I just don't need false sympathies. They won't undo what's been done, so why offer them?"

"Because we feel sorry for you," Raph stated, whirling to face her.

"Well don't!" she shouted back. "I don't need your pity!" December ran off into the training room.

Leo glared over at Raph who was brewing with anger now. His face screwed up to form a scowl, right arm clenched tight in a fist. He looked over at Leo and blurted out, "Can we just take her back up to the surface and leave her!?"

"No, we can't," Leo replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why? Because you like her or something?!" Raph yelled. "She's the most ungrateful person I've ever laid eyes on! It's like she doesn't want anyone to feel sorry for her because her ego's off the charts and… ugh!" It took everything in his power to stop himself from marching in there and telling her off.

"She reminds me of you, Raph," Mikey laughed.

He grabbed his brother by the front of his shell, spinning him around to face him. "You ever say that again, and I'll break your shell in two!"

"Well, technically…" Raph flashed Donnie a glance, and Donnie shut his mouth before he could finish it.

He dropped Mikey and stormed off towards his room. Donnie sighed and returned to his lab. Mikey and Leo only stared at one another. Leo sighed deeply and sat down beside his orange-banded brother; he slumped over, elbows resting on both of his knees and head hung low. "Do you really think it was a bad idea to help her out, Mikey?" he asked.

"No way, dude," Mikey voiced. "You're only doing what you think is right. Remember when we met Leatherhead, and you and the others thought I was crazy for wanting to save him?"

"Yeah."

"But you guys were wrong and he ended up risking his life for us. I think December is just like Leatherhead, only a girl… and not a mutant… and less anger-prone."

Leo lifted himself up and smiled over at his youngest sibling to see him smiling back at him, blue eyes gleaming with his usual pep. "Thanks, Mikey."

"You're welcome."

Leo rose to his feet and stretched. "I'm going to go check on December now."

"Alright. I'll be here, reading my comics."

Leo entered the training room and glanced around the area slowly. He caught a glimpse of something over in the far corner huddled up. The turtled walked forward slowly, focusing his vision to see it was a dog, curled up in a ball. "December?" he called gently, taking a step forward.

"Go away," she stated, voice cracked. He then heard her whine and knew she was crying.

"Are you alright?" he asked, taking another step forward.

"Go away, Leo," she growled, lifting her head up. "I'm not in the mood to talk."

"No, December, I'm not." Leo began towards her. The closer he came; the louder she growled. However, he knew she wouldn't attack him. When he was just a foot or so away, he sat down and crossed his legs, making himself comfortable.

"I hate your brother," she hissed, the thunderous sound still rumbling deep inside her chest.

"Which one?"

"Which one do you think!?" she snapped back angrily.

"Raphael?"

"Yes." She shifted her body slightly, growl dying away slowly. "He's been nothing but rude to me since I've been here, making accusations about who I am."

"He has trust issues," Leo stated. "Let's just say… I haven't had the best judgment in trusting people in the past. I… ended up trusting the wrong person and… they betrayed me. Raph tried warning me about it, but I didn't listen." Leo looked over to his side. "And I… might have felt something for her."

"Felt something for her? As in her being your potential mate?" December questioned.

"Yeah, something like that," he admitted. He then chuckled. "Sounds stupid, huh?"

"No," December argued. "I've been through the same situation, only he did successfully destroy my family."

"The one you're after, right?" Leo asked.

"Yes. The one who is hiding in this city somewhere." Her face wrinkled into a snarl. "I will find him, and I will kill him, not because of what he did to me, but because he cannot do it to others."

Her gaze drifted to Leo's eyes. "Leonardo, I can give you my promise that so long as I am fully aware of my actions, I will not harm bring harm to your family. I would never harm innocent lives on purpose."

Leo grinned, placing his hand atop her head where he rubbed her behind her ears. "I believe you, December."

"However, in one month, I will be leaving."

"To go back on the street, right, and find that person?"

"Yes."

Leo hung his head, disappointment in his expression. He forced a smile to his face. "I understand. You have your business, and we have ours."

"One month is still a long time," she stated, "but I wanted you to know."

"I understand, but I'm not so sure how Mikey will take it," Leo said with a grin. "He seems to really enjoy reading you his comic books."

"And I take pleasure in hearing them. They may not be true, but they are entertaining." Her tail thumped the padded floor slightly. "And I'll most definitely miss watching _Space Heroes_ with you, Leonardo."

Leo's expression filled with joy and happiness as a half-smile spread across his face. "Y-you really like watching _Space Heroes_ with me?"

"Of course," she chimed. "It's an entertaining show."

"Well, um, like you s-said. One month is a long time." He could feel his face becoming hot while he fumbled over his words. "S-so, we'll be able to watch it more before you leave."

"Leonardo, your face is growing red. Are you alright?" December asked as her eyes fixated on the reddening of his cheeks, head slightly titled to the side. She slowly reached out to touch his face gently.

"What? Oh, I'm fine!" he assured with a false smile, rubbing his face slightly. "I'm just… a little warm is all! Is-is it hot in in here to you?" He tugged on his shell slightly.

December shook her head, sitting up on her haunches. Leo nervously chuckled as he rose up. "I'm gonna go see if _Space Heroes_ is on. You coming?"

"Of course!" she stated, jumping up. "Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"Alright, c'mon then."

They exited the room and entered the living room, where they watched _Space Heroes_ for the rest of the night before tiring out.


End file.
